


Red Alert

by Angel_made_of_scars



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Disassociation, M/M, Nightmares, PTSD, Pulse Monitoring, Sort Of, Terrorists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 21:35:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16104260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_made_of_scars/pseuds/Angel_made_of_scars
Summary: Hank recognized Connor was a deviant now, but it still shocked him when he did human things. Like dream.





	Red Alert

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so seriously, I wrote this with Android culture in mind, and how humans want them dead, but if you are triggered by terror threats of any kind because of personal experience or family loss please do not read. There aren’t even guns in this, but I realized after writing it that the plot may strike close to home for some people. If you neeed to talk I’m always here.

Hank recognized Connor was a deviant now, but it still almost unnerved him when he did human things, like watching tv. He looked at the android, calmly taking in the screen. He noticed Hank, and gave the little upturn of lips that he did, almost a smile. Hank smiled back, and looked away, picking up his phone. It was probably time to walk Sumo. He stood up, and stretched until his back popped.

“Fucking hell. I need a massage.” Hank grumbled.

“I could find a certified android to-”

“No, no. I don’t have the money. Or the time. I have to go walk this big idiot.” Hank said.

“Actually, studies have shown dogs to be quite intelligent. Let me take him. I can see how he reacts to different stimuli and report back to you.” Connor said, standing as well.

It was times like these that Hank wondered if he even was a deviant. Maybe he only broke through half way. Still, there were other times he acted completely human. Like wanting to taste everything he could, just to taste, rather than to analyze. Of course eventually that would lead to some sort of internal cleaning, Hank knew, but he didn’t have the heart to turn him down.

“Alright, jeez. How about you don’t do that, and just walk to see the scenery?” Hank suggested, handing him the leash. Connors indicator light flashed in recognition and he gave a small smile.

“Why don’t you come with me? I would enjoy spending the time with you.” Connor said sincerely. Hank turned away, pretending to look for his shoes to hide his embarrassing red face. 

“You are something Connor. Alright, let’s go.” He said, making Connor smile.

* * *

They had decided to go towards town, where the rest of the android population was. Not many humans still lived in Detroit, a few thousand, but those that did helped fix androids. The androids themselves repaid this with fast food and other manual labor jobs.

It was easier this way, usually. There was still the gray area of taxes on androids. But worse, there was still the problem of human terrorist groups targeting androids. Two mass electrical output shocks in the last three months. It fried their systems, and caused blackouts. Two humans had died so far, and two dozen androids.

“Hank?” Connor spoke up, extending a hand. Hank wasn’t sure what he wanted exactly, but he saw his indicator light turn yellow. He was either analyzing or in distress.

“Course.” Hank said, shrugging. He didn’t pull away when Connor took his hand, but he definitely tensed and looked away. Connor hesitated at his reaction, and pulled away. Hank noticed his LED flash again from the corner of his eye.

Connor tried to shift his thought process to the scenery, like Hank had said. It really was still amazing, even after all the destruction. Along with peaceful protest always came police destruction, defensive piles of street items, and broken windows. But aside from that were human creations, the tallest building he had seen in person, and the beauty of simple things like street sculptures. Even human gestures, like linking hands.

What broke him from his thoughts of peace and beauty was just that. It was the girls he had met before he broke free. A Traci model, and her girlfriend, the brunette Traci, holding hands and running. Their lights were red. A few others followed. It was no longer beautiful.

“Something is wrong.” Connor said quickly.

Before he could get much else out, screams erupted from a couple of blocks away, and Connor felt the surge hit him. It wasn’t as strong as it would have been up close, but even Hank fell to his knees.

It all became a blur. It was like his processors weren’t working- his thoughts weren’t working, and his visual components had malfunctioned. In fact, he rationalized that’s exactly what happened. Hank probably was having similar problems.

In the few seconds that passed, it felt like hours. He looked around, and saw a building starting to crumble. The shockwaves of the electricity bomb weakened its foundation. He looked to Hank, who looked stunned.

“Get up! Run!”

He was being grabbed, and suddenly there was pure fear coursing through his body, and he gasped and jolted up from the ground. He felt liquid spring to his eyes. His cleaning feature that had turned to artificial tears in the deviants.

“H-Hank!” He yelled, yanking away from- Traci. Of course. She must have spotted him, too.

“Are you alright?!” Connor asked frantically. Hank looked up, dazed, before shaking his head and getting to his feet.

“Connor, what happened?”

“A-An electrical bomb, please, let’s go home so I can check your vitals!” Connor begged. Hank froze. He was still fuzzy, but Connor was crying, and there was a building about to collapse.

“Connor, I have to go.”

“No!”

“Connor, get Sumo and these girls to safety now! I’m an officer, retired or not! I have to go help. Connor, listen.” Hank said more gently, grabbing his arm. He shoved Sumos leash into Connors hand and nodded to him.

“Go to safety. Go home. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Hank said. Connors mouth moved to say anything, but he couldn’t.

“Please come back safe.” Connor said finally.

“I will.”

Before he could say another word, the blue haired Traci was dragging him away, and they were interfacing again. He felt fear rush through him, making him start to run faster, until they were sprinting down the streets, the girls practically getting dragged.

As soon as they reached Hanks house, Connor yanked the door open and ushered them in, before slamming it closed. He could feel his- well, not his heart, but his blue blood regulator whirring in his chest, trying to keep up with the adrenaline.

They didn’t need to breathe, but he found they were all panting like Sumo. It was like he had gone into autopilot, leading Sumo to his water dish, before sitting with the girls on the cramped couch.

They ended up sitting in silence, the two girls holding each other while Connor himself sat stock still, staring at the wall. It had to be over two hours, in which time the girls had put a blanket over his shoulders and retreated to find the bedroom, so they could lie down.

Connor didn’t have much going through his head, through the shock. The thought did occur that they had something playing, the news it sounded like. They didn’t want to disturb him it seemed.

Another two hours, and Hank was coming through the door, covered in cement dust and tired, but alive. Connor registered the girls talking to Hank briefly.

“He’s been like that since we got here.” The brunette relayed.

“He’s still in working shape, there are no injuries I can detect.” The other Traci said. He needed to say something.

“I’m fine!” He called, not breaking his eyes away from the wall.

And then they were gone. His memory files weren’t corrupted. He could see in his mind, Hank had called a car for them, and they had left. He just didn’t seem to register that in real time. Like he had been in sleep mode. Like he was still completely robotic.

“Connor, how are you?” Hank asked gently.

“I’m fine.” Connor answered, starting to look around. His defense was crumbling, and the artificial tears were forming. 

It immediately reminded Hank of that scared voice, when he had interfaces with the android Simon, who had killed himself. Hank sat down beside him, and pulled him into his shoulder. Connor didn’t move at first, then as he did, he trembled, grabbing Hank.

“I-I- I didn’t- I’m fine. They weren’t-”

“You couldn’t have gone in there safely. No one with electronics in them could have. It even shook me, alright? But you’re ok, I’m ok. We did what we could. You kept them safe, and I went to help. That’s all we could have done.” Hank said softly.

Connor recognized he was being spoken to like a child, but at the moment it seemed to help. He felt as though he was back in his body, and he buried his head in Hanks shoulder as he began to really cry.

“It’s going to be ok, Connor.” Hank said quietly.

* * *

He had been monitoring the news like a hawk, and finally an article popped up on his phone that made relief flow through him. He walked to Connors pull out couch bed in the living room, and sat down on the edge. Connor liked to go into sleep mode since deviancy. But he always put his bed away and got up on time. As soon as he had calmed down, he had pulled out his bed early and laid in silence. His LED flashed yellow rapidly, like his thoughts were racing.

“Connor, sit up. You should see this.” Hank said, grabbing the remote. Connor finally turned his head, and realized Hank was there.

“I- didn’t hear you. Sorry.” Connor said.

“Sit up. Look at this.” Hank repeated.

He hit a few buttons, and the news story blinked onto the screen. The terror group had been caught, and were being moved back to the human population to be held until a trial could be performed. Connor breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief, before laying back down, turning away from Hank.

“Connor, can you tell me what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Hank asked. He was almost angry. He wanted to cuss and yell and ask what the fuck was wrong with him. But he knew the signs of trauma anywhere. He knew it wouldn’t help.

“I’m not... I don’t think I’m injured. I’ve never felt like this. I-I don’t know.” Connor said. His voice sounded wet almost, and he started to tear up. Hank did swear this time, under his breath, and he climbed into the bed.

“Connor...” he started, suddenly nervous. What if he had read Connor wrong, and it made him uncomfortable? 

“Can you interface with a human?” Hank asked suddenly. Connor blinked and thought about the question.

“Not completely. I can feel a slight energy signal from your pulse, but we can’t share memories. It’s still nice though. The human heart has so many different beats for so many different emotions, and I can feel them.” Connor admitted.

Hank nodded and finally slid into the bed further, wrapping his arms around Connors frame. He pulled up the blanket, and took a deep breath, trying to steady his heart rate. Sure enough, Connors indicator started to slow down in its rapid blinking, just a bit.

“Is this better?” Hank asked. Connor hesitated, before nodding.

“Yes. Actually it’s much better.” Connor said. Hank rolled his eyes out of habit, but still smiled.

“Alright. Try to go to sleep.” Hank said. Instead of arguing the difference between sleep and sleep mode, Connor shut his eyes.

* * *

Connor had been distant since the incident. Hank could speak to him, but it was like before he had deviated. He was completely robotic, saying what Hank wanted to hear, or nothing at all. He thought they made progress, when he had calmed down, but after that first night, he had become silent again.

He also noticed Connor wasn’t sleeping. Or, going into sleep mode. The first two nights after the bomb, he did lay down. But after that, it became strange. He would lie down the same time Hank went to bed, but as soon as Hank pretended to be asleep, Connor would come check on him, before going to the living room and brushing Sumo for hours.

He could hear the brush running through the fur, and in the morning, if he looked, he could find bags of hair in their outdoor garbage. Sumo had never looked better, but it further solidified in his mind that something was wrong with Connor. He finally picked up on it when he was able to watch.

“Connor, why don’t you come try this spaghetti sauce?” Hank asked. Connor had insisted on teaching him a few basic recipes, and he was usually happy to help out, or taste it.

“No thanks.” Connor said quietly from his bed. Hank sighed.

“Then why don’t you get some fucking shut eye before I turn on the nightly news, alright? I know you haven’t been sleeping Connor.” Hank admitted. He couldn’t help swearing. It was frustrating not to know what was wrong. Connor seemed to contemplate this, before nodding.

“Alright.” He said simply, pulling up the cover over himself. 

Hank sighed as he realized Connor was essentially hiding. At least that was progress.

* * *

He continued on his spaghetti sauce, then the actual pasta, then made a plate for himself. Connor was facing away from him, but he seemed alright. Hank turned on the news to a quiet level, and ate as he watched, not really paying attention to the stories.

It was as he got up to feed Sumo, he realized Connor hadn’t moved a bit. Of course, androids had complete self control over body movement, but he would have thought Connor was at least overheating under there. As Sumo began to scarf his food down like a young puppy, he walked over.

When he pulled back the cover, he was horrified. Connor had lost everything. Apart from his clothes, his skin and hair were gone, leaving a bare white, shiny polish. His eyelids were flickering rapidly, and his LED was blinking red at just the same pace.

Hank panicked and did the only thing he could think of. He climbed into the bed and began shaking him, trying to wake him up. Connors eyes flew open as he heard Hank start to plead with him, and he sat up abruptly.

“Connor!” Hank yelled.

“H-Hank.” He said, his voice almost sounding corrupted.

“I-I’m sorry- it’s just a malfunction-” Connor tried, but they both knew it was a lie to an extent. Hank began to tear up before snapping out of his silence.

“You son of a bitch!” He yelled, startling Connor. Then within a split second, Hank was kissing him, and he relaxed into it, feeling the skin on his body begin to come back. When he pulled away, he was back to normal, gaping at Hank.

“I thought you were dead! Don’t you fucking do that again!” Hank yelled. Connor nodded. Hank finally slumped, exhausted, and rubbed his face. Frankly, he couldn’t believe he had done that.

“What happened?” He asked quietly.

“My dreams are malfunctioning.” Connor blurred out. He saw Hanks confusion and tried to think of a way to explain.

“Androids don’t exactly dream. We have memories, and we analyze those memories. We see each possible outcome, if we had done something different. And... I-I just keep seeing you die. I keep... the building falls on you if too many androids try to use the third flight of stairs. You die of a heart attack in the street if the bomb had been any higher level of electricity. You get shot because you’re a human trying to help the androids out-” Connor ranted, but was broken out of it as Sumo barked at his raised voice.

“You were fine though. The first night.” Hank said.

“You were with me. I could feel your pulse, I knew you were alright. My systems calculated different memories, not that one.” Connor said breathlessly.

Suddenly it was too quiet in the room, even with the news playing, and Sumo panting. Connor looked away, like he didn’t know what to say anymore, before looking back up and seeing Hank. He was just as shocked, not sure what to do. Eventually, he settled on leaning forward, and hugging Connor, and he squeezed back just as tight.

“You’re sleeping with me tonight. So you can- fucking- feel my pulse, or whatever. And then in the morning we’re going to some android doctor, alright? We’re getting this figured out.” Hank said. Connor nodded and pressed his nose into the crook of Hanks neck. He smelled like leather and tomato paste.

* * *

After coming home from the therapy session, they had received news. He wasn’t broken what so ever. He was just a deviant having bad dreams. So they had been sent out to buy a pulse bracelet. They each wore one, and Connor could feel Hanks pulse, and Hank could feel Connors... few beats per minute from the blue blood regulator. Connor looked almost sad though. It perturbed Hank to the point that he had to ask.

“Connor, what’s wrong?” Hank questioned, as they stepped inside.

“It’s nothing you should be concerned about.” Connor said. Hank shook his head.

“No, it is. Because if you’re going to lose yourself again-”

“I’m not.”

“But if you were-”

“I’m just going to miss you.” Connor blurted out. Hank blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“You... it was nice. I thought the kiss was nice, alright? It was my first time kissing anyone. It was electrifying. And I’ve had this feeling, that only amplified when you did it. And amplifies when you’re holding on to me at night, and I’m just going to miss that, alright?” Connor said in a hurry. Hank swallowed nervously. Moment of truth.

“Connor, if you wanted that why didn’t you just fucking ask?” Hank asked.

“Because you seem to dislike any type of affection I give you. I thought you didn’t feel that way about me. Of course, last night was conflicting.” Connor said. 

“Well I...” Come on, Hank thought.

“I do. Like you, in that way. So if you want to sleep in my bed and kiss me and shit, you should. I would like that.” Hank grumbled. He may be alright with trauma but he sure as hell ate shit when it came to talking about feelings.

“You’re serious.” Connor said, seeming to realize it. He cautiously stepped into Hanks space and put a hand on his face. Hank sighed through his nose and leaned into it.

“You said humanity was going to be ruined because they couldn’t find human relationships-” Connor started. Hank broke him out of his speech by pulling him in by his collar and kissing him. What followed was a silence filled with words neither could begin to say.

He felt Connor move against him, holding his face and his neck, and Hank wrapped his arms around Connors waist hesitantly. He felt himself begin to smile, then chuckle, and Connor pulled away.

“Hank?”

“It’s nothing. I just, I really did used to hate androids, and look at me now. Fucking falling in love with one. Well, a deviant. You’re definitely more human now.” Hank said. Connor smiled.

“So you’re not faking attraction for my benefit?” Connor asked. Hanks heart sank.

“Shut up, you idiot. Of course not! I could find a human if I wanted to. But I don’t want to.” Hank grumbled, breaking into a smile. Finally Connor smiled back.

“I missed that dumbass smile. Come here, let me make that smile wider!” Hank said, laughing as he hauled him up onto his shoulder and carried him off.

“Hank!” Connor started, chuckling, but the protest was cut off in his throat as Hank dropped him on the couch.

“It’s not all going to be sunshine and rainbows. You’ll probably still have some of those night terrors. But we’ll get through it.” Hank said, running a hand through his hair. Connor smiled thankfully and leaned up to meet his lips once more.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed. Someone hug Connor please.


End file.
